Does The Shape Of A Dog Affect Its Performance?

[squab 2,875]

you will have to forgive my ignorance in the correct terminolgy,i could google all the relevant lingo but cant be arsed so racing greyhounds,built purely for speed have a very even shape,long straight back obviously noticeable but lurchers come in all shapes and sizes,iv seen them long in the front leg(told you lol)and the back has a very prominent slope down from the neck toward the tail,also vice versa,very short in the front leg and the back slopes up from the neck to the tail.

 

so how much would this.......if at all..... affect the dogs working ability,cheers

[bird 9,587]

you will have to forgive my ignorance in the correct terminolgy,i could google all the relevant lingo but cant be arsed so racing greyhounds,built purely for speed have a very even shape,long straight back obviously noticeable but lurchers come in all shapes and sizes,iv seen them long in the front leg(told you lol)and the back has a very prominent slope down from the neck toward the tail,also vice versa,very short in the front leg and the back slopes up from the neck to the tail.

 

so how much would this.......if at all..... affect the dogs working ability,cheers

 

 

well obviously with the greyhound shape=running dog they do adapt to running+agilty, more so than say shorter square frame. But ive seen all type of lurchers big+ small long+ squat pick rabbits no bother.My pup now is not what you call grehound shape, he is long but quie heavy with it, but picks rabbits up easy for a big young dog.So size not a big prob as long as there agile i think they will all catch

[paulus 26]

balance is half the battle, a dog without it will struggle against one with it

[skycat 6,172]

balance is half the battle, a dog without it will struggle against one with it

Agreed. If the dog is powered correctly both front and back it will not only be able to work better, but also stand a better chance of going through life without the muscle and tendon injuries so often seen in dogs without the correct proportions and balance. Obviously it goes to say that the dog should be fit for purpose: running an unfit dog, no matter how well made it is, will result in injury.

[Brigzy 1,298]

Conformation is very important, weather it's in Lurchers, Whippets, Greyhounds or Race Horses. Some will say "handsome is as handsome do'es", but a dog with good conformation will always be better than a dog with bad points.

[NickF 50]

I read recently that due to the high numbers of lurchers being bred without too much thought on the 'finished' result, there are a lot about with shorter legs than front so the back is sloping downwards. As has been said, nice proportion is the ideal IMHO too.

[Ideation 8,216]

As Juliana Berners said waaaaay back in 1486. . . .

 

A running dog should have. . . .

 

"A head like a snake,

A neck like a drake,

A back like a beam,

The sides of a bream,

Be footed like a cat,

And have a tail like a rat"

[DEERMAN 1,016]

As Juliana Berners said waaaaay back in 1486. . . .

 

A running dog should have. . . .

 

"A head like a snake,

A neck like a drake,

A back like a beam,

The sides of a bream,

Be footed like a cat,

And have a tail like a rat"

forget the head like a snake

[trenchfoot 4,243]

 

As Juliana Berners said waaaaay back in 1486. . . .

 

A running dog should have. . . .

 

"A head like a snake,

A neck like a drake,

A back like a beam,

The sides of a bream,

Be footed like a cat,

And have a tail like a rat"

forget the head like a snake

 

And shiver like a whippet

[cocker 2,654]

Q Does The Shape Of A Dog Affect Its Performance?

 

A YES……………….

[oddser 79]

short stocky dogs are mostly sprinters long lean dogs are staying types theres only 10 yards diffrence over 500mt between a good one and a screw

[whitefeet4190 1,724]

 

 

 

 

As Juliana Berners said waaaaay back in 1486. . . .

 

A running dog should have. . . .

 

"A head like a snake,

A neck like a drake,

A back like a beam,

The sides of a bream,

Be footed like a cat,

And have a tail like a rat"

forget the head like a snake

And shiver like a whippet

Lol ha ha

[mushroom 12,352]

Now this is realy interesting for me.

 

Trev had a head like a fridge-freezer, was pretty quick, good at turning etc but boy could he bite down if he wanted.

 

Now I'm looking for a new dog and was wondering about this. Obviously when it comes to a terrier, a snipey jawed cur just doesn't cut it for most and I remember watching a program where the bite force of a dog was measured and they found that a 10% increase in skull sized gave on average 30% more bite force..

 

Will a snake headed lurcher have a strong enough bite force for pulling and holding larger game??

 

For rabbits and hare I can't see a difference in performance, but if the dog has hold of a pissed off deer, going sick to get loose the jaw stregth is going to play a huge part in keeping the bambi fecker put

 

Look forward to hearing from the guys who have experience of this preban

 

DISCLAIMER; This is in relation to legal deer hunting with dogs here in SPAIN before anybody starts

[lurchergrrl 1,441]

 

 

Trev had a head like a fridge-freezer, was pretty quick, good at turning etc but boy could he bite down if he wanted.

 

 

Yer inbox is full .... had is past tense? What happened to Trev?!

[Phil Lloyd 10,736]

"Good looks don't kill"....

Edited January 5, 2014 by Phil Lloyd